Designing with Light: A Gramercy Park Townhouse Renovation

This townhouse renovation in Manhattan definitely has some love-it or hate-it elements to it. That two-story glass façade? Gorgeous! The "conversation pit" styled living room? Well, here's where opinions may start to vary...

The transformation is an intriguing one, though. The goal was to take a building that housed three separate residences, and divide it equally into two. Fractal Construction designed the top two floors, including the penthouse addition. Still, what I find most unusual about the project (and readily apparent in the result), is the inclusion of a lighting designer and a sculptor on the design team. Anyone who knows much about lighting knows that there's a lot to know. And any home can benefit from even the most basic help of a lighting designer. But here, it's clear that designer Ingo Maurer provided much more than that, working with sculptor Emilio Garcia to create sculptural lighting elements in addition to well-lit sculptures.

Panes of glass, transparent during the day, sparkle with LEDs at night; "Schlitz" in the kitchen ceiling add illumination and depth to an otherwise monochromatic and monolithic space; and an exploding sculpture of light hovers above the dining table. This is what collaboration looks like. And whether the interior design is your style or not, I think the results are nothing short of inspiring.